Surviving the Storm
by islashlove
Summary: Santa Barbara is hit with the worst storm in its history and Shawn and the others are separated. Can they find each other amongst the devastation the storm has left in its wake? This is a SLASH story
1. And as the Storm Strikes

**Disclaimer: I own nothing that belongs to Psych **

**Warning: This is a slash story, which means a gay relationship. If you do not like it, please do not read. **

**Beta: Yes, thank you, jerseybelle **

**Author's notes: This chapter of this story has been done for a word challenge on FanFiction .net Writers Unite. The word is 'Storm'. **

**Stories Notes: Santa Barbara is hit with the worst storm in its history and Shawn and the others are separated. Can they find each other amongst the devastation the storm has left in its wake? **

**Surviving the Storm: By islashlove **

**Chapter 1: And as the Storm Strikes **

Shawn could quite clearly hear the thunder and the howling wind over the roar of his motor bike engine. He had been away from Santa Barbara on a case and, just like always, the day he returns it rains. But this time it wasn't just rain. It was a raging storm and he was stuck in the middle of it.

The wind was just as cold and sharp as the rain drops were heavy and piercing. They were both cutting and ripping at his cloths and Shawn fought the best he could to keep his motor bike up-right. Thankfully, the streets were empty, as everyone had taken shelter from the storm. Only a fool would be out in weather like this and Shawn was a good example of that.

Once again the lighting lit up the street Shawn was travelling on, giving him a glimpse of the road ahead. He knew he should pull over and find somewhere safe to wait out the storm, but he wanted to make it to the Psych office first, so knowing that the road was clear, Shawn rode on.

Suddenly, the lighting flashed again, only this time it struck a tree just in front of him. Shawn didn't have time to react as the flaming branch fell. Instead, all went black as he closed his eyes so he couldn't see what he knew was coming. The next thing Shawn knew was that he was on the ground, pinned between his bike, which was still running and the branch. Just off the side of his head and just in his sight, Shawn could see the broken power lines, dancing their sparkling dance.

Knowing damn well the danger he was in, fear started to rise and Shawn started to yell for help, but with the loud wind and roaring rain, he doubted anyone could hear him. Taking a deep breath, Shawn just prayed that his dad, Gus and the others were all safe. Not knowing why, Shawn suddenly started to feel tired and nothing he could do could stop the darkness from taking over.

Gus looked out of the window of the Psych office at the pouring rain. He couldn't believe that it was only three in the afternoon, as it was as dark as night out there. As the lighting lit up the sky, Gus watched as a large tree branch was blown down the street. Rubbish was everywhere and anything that wasn't tied down was being blown around like it was just bits of paper.

As Gus returned to his desk, he hoped that Shawn wouldn't be his usual stupid, idiotic self and try to ride back to Santa Barbara in this weather. Shawn had called him earlier that morning and said he should be back around three and that was what the time was right now.

Suddenly a thunder clap made Gus jump. Laughing, Gus looked up and to his horror he saw the big tree outside toppling over and it was heading straight for the Psych office. Just as the tree struck the windows, Gus just managed to duck under his desk.

Once he was sure it was safe, Gus tried to get out, but instead he found out that his desk was pinned against the wall by the tree, trapping him. Trying his best, Gus reached for his mobile phone which had fallen off the desk when the branch had hit it. Unfortunately, the phone was just out of reach. Leaning back, Gus hoped that the storm would pass soon and help would be on its way.

Chief Vick looked over to where her daughter Iris was sleeping. She wished she could join her young daughter, but she was too worried about this storm. It was a bad one and when it finally stopped there would be a lot of work to do, but that wasn't her main worry.

Somewhere out there in that raging storm was her husband. They had been talking on the phone when the storm hit and he had been in his car on his way home at the time. His phone had just suddenly gone dead, but then again, all the phone lines and cell towers were probably down, so that could have been the answer for that. At least that is what she hoped was the answer.

Along with her husband, Chief Vick was also worried about her friend Henry Spencer. He had asked for some time off to go fishing and she had given it to him. So at this moment, as far as she knew, Henry was out there on his boat, fighting the storm.

Another crack of thunder and this time Iris started to stir a little. Giving a small sigh Chief Vick walked over to her daughter and started to rub her back. In no time, Iris was asleep and Chief Vick was left alone with her thoughts once again.

Juliet covered her ears as her nephews screamed again. When she had agreed to baby sit them, a storm wasn't part of the deal. The two boys were hiding under their bed sheets and screaming every time the loud thunder rolled across the sky.

She had never before had to calm a child down who was scared of thunder. And she didn't understand what they were scared of. Juliet herself has always loved a good thunder storm. The way the lighting painted a photo snap of flashing patterns and the rumbling of the thunder as it moved through her body. Even the rain had its own magic, as it played along the rooftops and brought a lovely rhythm to sing to and that is just what she was doing now, singing.

Juliet hoped her singing would calm the boys down. She knew that their parents were fine as she was talking to them before the phones went out. The one she was worried about was Shawn. Gus had called her earlier to let her know that he had heard from Shawn; they had both been so worried about him. Neither of them had heard from Shawn since he left to do this job out of town and it had been a whole week. But now that worry had changed because of the storm and whether or not Shawn had been caught up in it.

Thinking back to the phone call from Gus, Juliet thought it was funny that Gus had called her, but then she had figured that Shawn hadn't told Gus that they had broken up or the reason why. In one way, she would be glad if Shawn didn't tell Gus. After all, she had hurt Shawn badly, but in her heart she would prefer if he did, then it would be out in the open.

Still singing, Juliet looked outside at the rain and then smiled as the thunder rolled and once again the lighting took another photo of the world around it.

Meanwhile, Henry Spencer was cursing at himself. He had heard the reports and warnings about the storm, but he had still decided to stay out a little longer and now he was caught in the middle of it. He couldn't work out what in the world made him do such a…Shawn thing... in the first place.

Henry watched as another large wave headed his way and he fought to turn his boat into the right position, hoping to ride out the storm. But he wasn't holding his breath. As the wave pounded the side of his boat, Henry hung on for dear life and just as he thought the danger was over, at least for that moment, Henry let go, but he didn't see the even larger wave coming up behind him and before he knew it, the boat was swamped.

McNab looked around at the nearly empty station. Most of the officers had been out of the station when the storm hit and were now taking shelter where ever they could find it.

Normally, McNab didn't mind storms, but this one, this one was bigger and stronger than any he had ever seen. It was strong enough to make the station rattle and groan and that worried McNab a lot. If it was doing this to the station, what was it doing to the rest of Santa Barbara?

The storm had been raging for nearly an hour now; surely it should start easing up soon. Suddenly the lights went out and a few moments later the emergency lights came on. Looking around again, McNab couldn't help but smile a little, as he could see that Detective Lassiter was still sitting at his desk, cleaning his guns.

Lassiter gave a small curse under his breath as the lights went out. He slowly counted one…two…three…four…and the lights were back on or at least the emergency lights were, so he went back to cleaning his guns. There wasn't much more he could do right now. It was too dark to do any paper work and he knew that they would have to be ready to deal with the aftermath when the storm was over.

He had been through a few storms like this before and the aftermath was never very nice. After such a natural disaster as this there would be more than just the clean-up. There would be the looters to deal with and people whose emotions would be running high. Lassiter had even seen murders committed and the killer has tried to blame the death on the storm.

Yes, Lassiter had seen the devastation storms like this have left behind and he was planning on being ready to deal with it all, the looters, the clean-up and the deaths. For some reason, the thought that there would be a few deaths brought Lassiter's mind to a place he didn't like it going.

A place that caused his heart to beat faster, his breath to catch and his cheeks to turn a shade of pink; a place where he and a certain fake psychic were more than what they were right now. Whatever that was, Lassiter wasn't sure, but he knew that he wished it was a lot more and in a romantic way. But because of the storm, he just prayed that that a certain fake psychic was safe and he would see him soon.

**Thank you for reading my story **


	2. The Aftermath

******Author's Note: Firstly I am so sorry it took so long to update, I had some personal troubles that have kept me away from writing. Secondly, I apologise now for any mistakes as this chapter has not yet been Beta-ed, as my Beta has still not returned from hospital.**

**Chapter 2: The Aftermath**

It took a good two hours before the storm settled down enough, so Detective Lassiter could leave the station to see the damage. Standing on the top steps of the station Detective Lassiter, Officer McNab and the other officers, stared out at the horror that they found.

What was once their peaceful, tidy city was now a tangled mess of rubbish, fallen trees and destroyed buildings. They couldn't even walk down the stairs as there was a great big tree branch blocking their way.

Shaking his head, Detective Lassiter headed back inside the station and as the others followed, he started to bark out orders. Within fifteen minutes, Lassiter had everyone organised and off doing their jobs.

He had checked that the radio tower was still operating and since it was he handed out hand held radios to the officers that would be going out to help. He also gave them a few extra ones to give other officers they found so he could coordinate everything. Giving McNab one, he explained to the officers that were to stay at the station that McNab was in charge and that McNab was to contact him if anything happened.

After leaving the station Lassiter had a few places to go. The first one was the hospital and once he knew they weren't too damaged and could still operate, he sent orders back to McNab that anyone coming into the station was to be sent over to the hospital for now. There he also left a radio so the doctors and nurse could get hold of him.

His next stop was the chief house. It took some time to get to it, after having to stop and remove trees and branches off the road. Plus he had stopped to talk to people and redirect them to the hospital for treatment. When he finally reach the chief's house it looked like it had weathered out the storm fairly well.

Knocking on the door, he waited for her to answer. He wanted to get going, it would soon be getting dark which will make search and rescue dangerous and many people will die. It didn't take the chief to open her door, but when the smile disappeared from her face Lassiter knew something was wrong.

"Is everything o, Chief?"

"Yes and…no. I was hoping that you were Richard."

"Your husband isn't home?"

"NO, he was on his way home when the storm hit. I was talking to him on the phone, but it went dead. God, Carlton, I'm so worried about him."

"Chief, it's no good you sitting here worrying," Lassiter knew he needed to get her mind off her husband and back on the job. "Why don't you take Iris to the station and take command. I will let you know if I find him."

Karen looked at her Detective, she knew what he was up to and she was grateful to him for it. "Who did you leave in charge?" If Lassiter said anyone else other than McNab, she would really be surprised.

"McNab, will you be right to drive or do you want me to take you?"

"No I should be able to drive."

"Good, the hospital is still running and I've arrange anyone that comes into the station to be sent there and here," Lassiter passed her a radio. "So you can keep in touch with me."

"Looks like you have everything under control Detective."

"We have a city out there that looks like it's been destroyed and night is about to join us, making it too dangerous to do anything. I just want to get out there and do my best to save people."

"Then I will let you get back to work. Where are you off to now?" Chief Vick said as she put Iris into her car.

"I'm going to get O'Hara, check on Guster and then keep on searching for survivors and helping out."

"O, I will radio you when I get to the station."

"Whatever you do Chief, don't stop to remove any debris there are too many fallen power lines."

"I will be careful Detective, and you take your own advice."

"I will." Lassiter watched as Chief Vick and Iris disappeared out of sight.

He then closed her front door, leaving a note on it to tell Mr Vick that the chief was safe and was at the station, just in case he made it home. Lassiter then headed off towards O'Hara's brother's place.

To get there Lassiter had to take a few detours, helped a family to find their dog and then sent them over to the hospital. He even came across a heart breaking scene where a car had been crushed under a large tree. By the look of it the family of four, including a baby had died instantly.

As he turned to walk away, Lassiter heard what sounded like a baby crying. Looking around he couldn't see anything, but he knew he had heard it. Looking back at the car, his heart started to beat faster, rushing back to the car, he arrived just as the baby let out another small cry. Squeezing himself through the broken window, Lassiter could just reach the baby. Undoing the belt, he carefully lifted it up and very carefully pulled the baby free.

Holding the child as close to him as he could, Lassiter bolted back to his car. Placing the child on the passenger's seat he drove as fast as he could to where O'Hara was. Arriving, he quickly climbed out, picking up the child and started to bang on the door. Lassiter let out a sigh of relief when O'Hara's brother opened the door and let him in.

"Carlton, what…" Juliet said when she saw the blood and the baby.

"It was in a car that had been crushed by a tree. The rest of the occupants are dead."

"Let me have a look?" It was O'Hara's brother. "We need to get it to the hospital."

"Can you take it? We're running out of light and will have to start stop searching soon."

"Sure, I take it that you will be going with your partner, Jules?"

"Sorry, but I have a job to do."

"We understand."

"The hospital is set up as an emergency centre. You all will be safe there."

"Thank you Detective Lassiter and I will let you know how the little one goes."

"Thank you, O'Hara, let's go."

With that, Lassiter and O'Hara left, heading towards the Psych office. Lassiter knew that they were going to come across a lot more scenes like the car he had save the baby from; he just hoped it wasn't going to be too many.

**Thank you for reading and reviewing my story**


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